Strike Out (Barlow Sisters Book 2)

by Jordan Ford

  “Dad, the way I feel right now, I’m pretty sure I’ve never fallen before, because this is something…”

  “Magical,” Dad finishes with a proud smile. “I know that feeling. I know it very well.”

  I smile at my dad, loving that he gets me. I’m seriously the luckiest guy on the planet to have my parents. I hope I never forget that.

  Dad throws me his keys. “Good luck.”

  “Thanks.” I squeeze them in my hand and slip out of the school.

  I drive pretty fast to the police station; I’m on a clock and don’t have the luxury of taking it slow. As soon as I pull into the parking lot and stare at that square gray building, my heart starts to hammer. I’m not a huge fan of conflict. I don’t tend to have any with my parents, so I haven’t had much practice taking on authority.

  “Think of Max,” I whisper, giving myself a pep talk. “Do this for her.”

  I walk into the police station, my legs stiff and unwilling.

  Tapping my fingers on the front counter, I’m about to greet the woman at the front desk when a loud voice barks at me. “What are you doing here?”

  I turn to see Chief Barlow walking to his office with a steaming mug in his hand.

  “Uh, hello, sir. I was wondering if I could have a word with you.”

  “Aren’t you supposed to be at school?”

  I pull the permission slip out of my pocket and wave it at him. “I’ve got lunch leave today. Have to be back before next period, though.”

  He stops in his doorway, staring me down before giving in with a reluctant nod. “Come in.”

  “Thank you,” I murmur, hustling into his office before he closes the door.

  I hover by the chairs opposite his desk, waiting for him to invite me to take a seat. He doesn’t, so I brush my hair behind my ear and go for it.

  “Sir, I understand why you don’t like me. I get that Max lied to you in order to hang out with me. I know I pulled her away from baseball and I introduced her to a world that no doubt seems dangerous to you.”

  He tips his head, shooting me an icy glare. “Someone threatened to mail her back to me in pieces.”

  I swallow, my thunder stolen by that tidbit. Max hadn’t mentioned that. I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose.

  “Now, I’m aware that you are not solely responsible for that, but you did take her to that club.”

  “I didn’t know—”

  “I don’t want my daughter hanging out in clubs, associating with people like that.”

  “But we’ve never had any problems before. We don’t drink, we don’t do drugs, we just play. That’s the only reason we go.”

  “Surely you’re not stupid enough to think that these places are run by some church!”

  “No, sir, but some of them are run by great people who don’t have bad intentions.”

  “Yes, well, Escapar is obviously not one of them.”

  “Agreed. Which is why we will never be playing there again.” I cross my arms and stare at him.

  My reply catches him off guard and he jerks back in his chair, the corners of his eyes twitching as he tries to size me up. “Look, you obviously came here to say more than that, so can you hurry it up and get out?”

  I sigh and shove my hands in my pockets. “I care about your daughter, sir. I would never put her life in danger. Not intentionally. And I’m really sorry that happened. If you don’t ever want her going into a club again, I get it. But you can’t take guitar away from her. She’s good. She’s really good…and she loves it. You should see her face when she plays. Her smile could light up a room.”

  A frown flickers across his face as he totally misses the point. “You know, Holden Carter came down here and actually asked permission to date my daughter. I really respected that. What did you do, Mr. Rock Star? You snuck Max around behind my back, encouraged her to lie to me—”

  “I never encouraged her.” I risk cutting him off. “I wanted her to tell the truth but she was afraid of letting you down. She didn’t think you’d understand.”

  His eyes flash with warning, but I keep going anyway.

  “Now I’m not like Holden Carter, and if you don’t like the way I am, that’s really not my problem. This isn’t even about me. It’s about Max, and what makes her happy.”

  The big chief’s nostrils flare and I will my voice to keep from quaking.

  “Sir, we’ve been asked to play at prom this year. And I really want her up there with us. She adds something special to our band…scales it up somehow. She brings this energy to the stage that we’ve never had before. Because she loves it. Sir, she loves it. Please don’t take this away from her.”

  He leans back in his chair and slowly crosses his arms.

  I don’t say anything while he purses his lips and makes me wait it out. Clenching my jaw, I hold in my sigh and will myself to shut up. There are a million more things I could say, but something’s telling me to just hold up.

  Lurching forward, Chief Barlow grabs a pen off his desk and starts tapping it against the wood. “You know, when you first walked in here, I was expecting some speech about how I’m an unfair bastard for not letting my daughter date you.”

  A surprised snicker pops out before I can stop it. “I would seriously love to date your daughter, but I’m guessing if I try asking your permission now, you’re going to shoot me down.”

  He nods.

  I huff and rake a hand through my hair. “Look, all I want is for her to be happy. And music makes her happy. Even if you won’t let us be together right now, don’t take that away from her. Please.”

  Leaning forward, he rests his elbows on his desk and studies my face. I don’t know what I’m supposed to be giving him, so I just hold eye contact and wait it out.

  “You really care about her, don’t you?”

  My swallow is thick and audible. “Yes, sir. She’s a very special person.”

  “I know. She’s my girl.”

  It’s impossible to miss his underlying warning, and it’s hard to keep my expression neutral when his glare starts to harden.

  I work my jaw to the side, dropping my gaze to the carpet. I think I’m going to lose this one and it freaking sucks.

  Pulling in a breath, Chief Barlow taps his finger on his desk and quietly asks, “Music makes her happy, huh?”

  My heart pings with hope as my head shoots up. “Yes…very.”

  He licks his lips before biting them together in thought.

  After another painful minute of soft pen tapping, he finally gives me something.

  “I’ll let her keep going with guitar, as long as it doesn’t replace baseball. She has a commitment to her team. They made the playoffs and I want her at every one of those games.”

  My lips part as excitement jumps on hope’s back and starts zipping around my chest.

  “She can learn with you before school and only then. There’ll be no extra practices, so you make the most of that time slot, because that’s all she’s getting.” He points at me. “And I want adult supervision in the room at all times.”

  I open my mouth to protest, but quickly think better of it. He’s handing me a freaking grand prize right now and I’m not about to take it for granted.

  “And nothing changes the fact that she is grounded for the rest of the school year. She went behind my back and lied to me. You can see her at school, I can’t exactly stop that, and even though she’s told me quite emphatically that I can’t make you two break up, there’s no dating.”

  “Can I take her to prom?”

  His eyebrows dip together. “Didn’t you just say you were performing at prom?”

  “Uh, yeah. Are you saying she can play?”

  “Why else would I let you keep going with the lessons?”

  I let out a surprised laugh. “Oh, wow, thank you, sir. Thank you. You should totally come and watch her perform. It’ll be magic.”

  He harrumphs and drops his pen. “I’m sure none of my daughters would like me t
o attend their prom.”

  I wince. “I think you underestimate how desperately Max wants your approval on this one, sir.”

  He goes still, frown lines wrinkling his forehead. Shifting in his seat, he glances at his watch and then points to the door. “You better get back to school.”

  “Okay.” I nod. “Thank you for your time.”

  I stop in the doorway, tapping my thumb on the edge before spinning back for one last act of courage. “So, the whole dating Max thing…”

  He rolls his eyes and does this funny kind of growl in his throat. “Not much I can do once she graduates high school. If she still wants to date some long-haired rock star with rings on his fingers, I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop her.”

  I grin and edge out the door with a final “Thank you, sir.”

  47

  Plan A and B

  MAX

  It’s taken me three days, but Cairo has finally convinced me to have one more shot at taking a stand.

  I can’t believe he went and saw my dad on Monday. He found me on my way to baseball practice and told me what he’d done. I hugged him like it was our last. I seriously couldn’t believe it. Dad had changed his tune…and it gave me hope.

  So for the last three guitar lessons, we haven’t played. We’ve planned. Mr. Hale has been super helpful and I now have a solid, thought-out plan for my future that I’m about to present to my family.

  I was just going to go with Mom and Dad at first, but when I nervously whispered my intent to Maddie last night, she told me she wouldn’t miss it for the world.

  So here I am, standing at the dining room table and shouting, “Family meeting!”

  I’m pretty sure I still hate them, but this’ll be my first time running one so, depending how it goes, I might just change my mind.

  Everyone appears in the room at their own pace. Chloe and Maddie are grinning while Dad and Mom shoot each other confused frowns.

  Maddie offers me her chair and I slip into it so I can be next to Dad. It was her idea and it took her nearly an hour of convincing before I’d concede, but she finally won me over with “He’s hurting. He feels like he’s losing you. Sit next to him, hold his hand if you have to. Just let him know that, no matter what, you’ll always be his daughter.”

  Dad sits in his chair, giving me a suspicious look before glancing at Mom.

  “So, um…” I slide my hands over the table and start tapping my fingers on the wood. “Thank you for coming.”

  I cringe and look to Maddie.

  She grins like this is funny and bobs her head. “Go on.”

  “Uh.” I swallow and then suck in a breath of courage. “Okay, so…a few days ago we kind of talked about this, and I told you what I want for my future.” I look between my parents. “And I just want to thank you for hearing me, but I still feel like things are kind of up in the air.”

  “Are you trying to get out of your grounding?” Dad frowns.

  “No.” I shake my head. “But I do want to take back something that I said.” I lick my lips and pull out the manila folder I’ve been sitting on. “I kind of gave you the impression that if I missed out on a college education I wasn’t bothered, but that’s not actually true.”

  Mom pulls in a breath, relief flooding her expression as she closes her eyes and nods.

  It helps me to keep going. “So, I know money’s a struggle and giving up the chance of a scholarship must seem really stupid, but I just can’t commit to baseball when my heart’s in music. So I’ve been chatting with Mr. Hale and he’s helped me come up with a couple of scenarios that I want to present to you guys.”

  Dad’s jaw works to the side. He’s looking pretty damn skeptical right now.

  Shit!

  “I guess I want you to know that I’m not just being reckless and impulsive about this music thing. It’s something I’m passionate about and I want to make it a reality. So…” Flicking open the folder, I pull out the sheets of paper Mr. Hale printed for me. There’s a Plan A and B. I hand a copy of each to my parents and start to explain. “So I’ve left it a little late to apply for the right colleges and even though Mr. Hale offered to pull some strings, I feel like it would be a better decision to delay college for a year so that I could work on improving my ability in music.”

  Mom’s eyebrows pop high and she bites her lips together, obviously unimpressed.

  “Mr. Hale is willing to teach me theory and catch me up in his spare time. I could find a part-time job, and that along with the money I could gain from selling my baseball card collection could fund me through college.” I say the last part super fast, knowing Dad will hate it.

  That collection has been passed down from his grandfather to his dad to him and then on to me. What I’m saying must feel like a slap in the face.

  The sheet in Dad’s hand starts shaking and I wince. “I’m not talking about the whole collection, of course. There are some cards our family will never part with.”

  Dad doesn’t react. He’s still staring at that sheet of paper, and I want to wrench it out of his hand and demand that he look at me.

  Rubbing my forehead, I glance at my sisters. Chloe gives me a sympathetic smile while Maddie mouths, “Keep going.”

  I clear my throat and try to boost my courage. “As you can see, Plan A is that I work hard and then attempt to get into one of my preferred colleges. And then Plan B would be for me to attend community college for a couple of years and then transfer to a better music program a little later.”

  “Uh-huh.” Dad’s jaw works to the side.

  My fingers tremble as I pass over the college brochures. I make sure the ones near Berkeley are on the top. “These are my preferred choices, with the plan to eventually transfer to Berkeley. It has a really great music program.”

  “Cairo Hale got in there, didn’t he?” Dad takes the pamphlet and skims it before passing it to Mom and spearing me with a look that demands honesty.

  “Yes,” I whisper. “But he’s not the only reason I want to go there. It seriously has a great music program.”

  “You’ve really thought this through,” Mom murmurs, checking out the pamphlet in more detail than Dad did.

  I turn my attention to her. “Yes, I really have. I want you guys to know that I’m serious about this. It’s not just Cairo, I promise. I’m not being manipulated by some sappy romantic notions here. I love music! And I’m pretty good.”

  “From what I’ve heard, you’re amazing,” Maddie backs me up.

  Man, I love that girl.

  I shoot her a grateful smile.

  “I’m letting her play at prom, aren’t I?” Dad grumbles. “I’m allowing the lessons. That has to count for something.”

  I reach for his hand and give it a squeeze. I hope my face is showing him what I want it to. “It does, Dad. It means so much to me.”

  He grunts and bobs his head while gently patting my hand. “Just promise me you’ll do your best for the rest of this season. Don’t break my heart and give up on baseball altogether.”

  “I’ll do my best to help the Pitbulls win these playoffs, Dad. I promise.”

  His lips curl into a smile, his eyes glassing over as I rise from my chair and kiss his cheek.

  “Well.” Mom taps the college brochures on the table. “I guess we better start looking into some of these community colleges, then. Isn’t there one in Cullington?”

  I frown. “I’d really prefer to be near Berkeley if possible.”

  “I’m just thinking about the cost of living away from home. You may have to compromise, sweetie, especially if you’re aiming for a transfer to Berkeley after a couple of years. We’ll need to save every penny we can.”

  I swallow, knowing that she’s right.

  “I want to set up a meeting with Mr. Hale and the guidance counselor, to go over this plan and see how we can best support you.”

  I’m at a loss for words as Mom gives Dad a pointed look.

  He nods and forces a smile. “Yep. Sounds good,
but I still don’t want you selling those baseball cards.”

  “Dad, they’re just cards. There are a few really precious ones in there, but the rest of them…” I tip my head. “I want a college education more than I want to keep them. It’s my future we’re talking about here. I need this. I don’t want to give up on this dream and find myself lost the way Uncle Conrad did. I know what I want and I’m willing to work really hard to get it.” I look him in the eye, begging him to believe me.

  I hope he can tell this is the one hundred percent truth.

  After a long beat, his lips twitch and he lets out a soft breath. “Good for you, Max.”

  “Really? You’ll support me?”

  “It’s gonna take me a little time, okay? You are one talented ballplayer, and it feels like such a waste.” I can’t help wondering if he’s living some of the pain his father must have felt when Conrad threw it all away.

  “I’m not giving it up for nothing, Dad.”

  “I know, and I’ll get there. You’re my kid…and I love you. That’s never gonna change, all right?”

  Tears blur my vision and I don’t even bother fighting them. Flinging my arms around Dad’s neck, I hold him tight and whisper repeated thanks in his ear until his beefy arms finally curl around my waist and he hugs me like he means it.

  48

  Spell Caster

  CAIRO

  Adjusting my guitar, I strum the chords again, murmuring the lyrics as I try to perfect the song Max started writing with me. Over the last few weeks we’ve been compiling the songs in small chunks. She’ll write the odd lyric or two during class or when she’s supposed to be doing homework.

  I’ve taken all her thoughts and managed to break them up and rearrange them so the song flows smoothly.

  I love her most recent addition, and I think it’ll be great for a bridge…

  I’m happy to drown in this moment with you

  I realize you’ve taught me to fly

  Floating above the world, what a view

  Spell caster, let’s own the sky